


Reversal

by Shujinkakusama



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Askbox Fic, Drabble, F/F, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Role Reversal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-09
Updated: 2016-09-09
Packaged: 2018-08-14 01:03:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7992898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shujinkakusama/pseuds/Shujinkakusama
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Garnet looks to Pearl for strength. For a Tumblr prompt: Hurt/Comfort role reversal. // Pearlnet, askbox fic, oneshot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reversal

_Sometimes I look up to you for strength._

 

It was in subtle things. Pearl had never noticed before, but Garnet really did reach for her sometimes—especially when she was under duress—and Pearl had too long taken it for granted. It was hard to think that Garnet needed _her_ when she’d been the one clinging day after day. Garnet had always squeezed back when she clutched her hands, always pulled her in against her side while she panicked. Pearl had finally pulled back after her stunt with Sardonyx, after she swore to become stronger—and that was months ago.

 

And now here they were.

 

Here Garnet was, trembling like a leaf in her arms. Her visor had cracked down the middle, and a rockslide had separated them from their companions; the mission was going wrong in every possible way.

 

Garnet had never been small. She’d always dwarfed Pearl, even when she had been new and uncertain and walked on wobbly legs and needed a hand to steady her gait. But curled in on herself, face pressed into Pearl’s bony shoulder, tears streaming from all three eyes, trembling with every rattling sob—Pearl couldn’t reconcile the Gem she now held with what she knew of her longest-living friend.

 

“I’m here,” Pearl whispered, removing the pieces of Garnet’s visor before gathering her close. “It’s okay.”

 

“It’s not okay!” Garnet gasped, fingers curling into Pearl’s tunic so tightly that the smaller Gem heard the fabric tear. She winced, but ignored it—it was easily fixed—and rocked her friend gently, the way Garnet had done for her innumerable times. Garnet sobbed into her collar, a trembling, gut-wrenching moan falling from her lips. “It’s not…”

 

Pearl wasn’t sure what to say. She shushed her, rubbed circles in her lower back and at the base of her neck, and let Garnet cry herself out. “It’ll _be_ okay,” she whispered finally, wiping Garnet’s tears with her thumb. “Steven has his shields. And his bubble! He and Amethyst will be waiting for us, just like always. We’ll find them.”

 

Garnet blinked glassy eyes rapidly against a fresh wave of tears, chewing her bottom lip. “I don’t see it,” she whispered raggedly, “I keep looking, Pearl, and I don’t… I don’t see us finding them, and I can’t—“

 

“If the odds are one in a million, we’ll be that one,” Pearl said firmly, echoing something Garnet had told her millennia before. The Fusion stared up at her, lost and afraid and desperate for reassurance. Pearl leaned in to kiss her gently on the cheek, pushing back a stray shock of tightly curled hair and mustering up a smile. “We’ll find them, together! I’m not going to give up…” her voice dropped, “and neither should you.”

 

Garnet nodded faintly, eyes wet with unshed tears, and she drew in a shaky breath. “You’re right,” she managed, “I… you’re right. Thank you, Pearl.”

 

Pearl paused for long moments, then leaned in again, nuzzling Garnet’s damp cheek and pressing a kiss to her neck. “You’ve done the same for me,” she reminded her, hugging Garnet so tightly that she could barely draw breath. “Everything will be okay. We’ll find them. If we have to, we’ll get Amethyst healed.” This drew a weak chuckle from her companion, and Pearl drew back, cupping her face. “I promise that we’ll find them, and we’ll all go home together. Okay?”

 

Garnet nodded, more firmly this time, and closed the distance between them for a chaste kiss. “Okay.”


End file.
